AMIA@ALA Preconference: Preservation, Digitization, and More
How Libraries can Preserve Analog Resources in a Digital World
Presenters: Siobhan Hagan, University of Baltimore; Andy Uhrich, Indiana University; Maureen Tripp, Emerson College; Jennifer Jenkins, University of Arizona and Rick Prelinger, Prelinger Archives.
The opening presentation covered film formats and participants were able to examine 8 mm, 16 mm, and 32 mm film for identification of qualities such as soundtrack, perforation, size, etc., for the purposes of record creation and conducting a survey. The approach could range from collection level down to in-depth item level, and depends on available resources, intended use, and whether the work will be done in house or outsourced. One can identify objects through inspection of labels on the case and reel for descriptive metadata, as well as technical metadata such as gauge and sound from examining the film itself.
The presenters also spoke of preservation and conservation decisions that can be made from inspecting the can and film reel. Upon opening the can, immediately attempt to ascertain smell. A smell of vinegar, burning, or mothballs may be present if the film is deteriorating; if a vinegar smell is present, prioritize for cold storage and conservation treatment, if possible. It is also possible to use A-D strips in the cans to test for acidity level. Reels should be stored horizontally, and if the original can is not rusted and/or contains important labels and other unique marking, then it can be continued to be use for storage. Otherwise, it is advisable to obtain archival cases, one of which was given to each participant as a souvenir.
Other things to look for are color fade, mold, shrinkage (looks like cobblestone), scratches, splices, and broken sprockets. Nitrate prints should be immediately separated from other collections, and prints that are highly acidic or moldy should also be separated from other collections.
Lastly, the presenters left us with some resources:
• Library of Congress - National Film Preservation Board
• Film Forever
• National Film Preservation Foundation
• FilmCare.org (coming soon!)
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| Instrument to measure shrinkage and to ascertain if film is safe to be run through a projector. This is only made by one man in Canada, and costs upwards of $1000. |
Don't Be a Film Wrecker -- Best Practices for Storing, Repairing, and Viewing Film Prints and VHS Tapes
Presenters: Antonella Bonfanti, Association of Moving Image Archivists and Michael Angeletti, Stanford University.
This next section actually included some of the film information I mentioned above, but it was a bit out of order so I organized it better for my memory here. Largely this section dealt with magnetic video tape format, and was very exhaustive in identifying them. The presenter covered the most common formats, which were many as the technology evolved rapidly from the 1950s to the 1990s, and included professional grade formats as well as amateur formats.
The largest preservation issues the magnetic tape format faces is one that can coined as "degralescence" -- the combination of obsolescence and degradation. It is difficult to find native playback hardware, and the presenters stressed that time is of the essence -- for all these formats, buying playback decks is an essential activity, and a stockpile to canonabilize for parts is preferred if an institution has the space to accomodate it. The tapes themselves are subject to mold and sticky shed syndrome. Tapes experiencing severe sticky shed syndrome can damage playback decks, but can be baked in a tape incubator to abate the stickiness.
When processing and preserving a video collection, it is also important to create identification records, to mark the inventory on the tape, and decide circulation rules based on whether the item contains unique, valuable content, or if the content is replaceable. Tapes should be stored in quality snap cases (not cardboard), stored vertically, and never on the bottom shelf.
When viewing it is important to test the machine before inserting the video, and it is important to care well for the VCR: leave it empty, turn it off, keep it cool and dry, keep it clean, use it periodically, clean the transport, conduct electronic alignment and parts replacement maintenance at regular intervals, and when necessary seek professional tape treatment.
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| Tried and true image of the layers of magnetic tape. Such an illustration helps one visualize types of deterioration based on structure. |
A/V Outsourcing for All: A Step-by-Step Method for Initiating Video Digitization Projects
Presenters: Elena Rossi-Snook, Association of Moving Image Archivists; Melitte Buchman and Kim Tarr, New York University; and Paula DeStefano and Jonah Volk, The New York Public Library.
This session of the workshop was very technical and while the panelists identified best practices for managing digitization projects that are universal, some of the specifics of schematics and technical specifications went over my head. Nonetheless, some of the things I learned in the Project Management (PM) class I took at SJSU's iSchool in Fall 2014 reverberated in my head, as the presentation seemed to combine the tenets of project management with the specifics of digitizing video tapes. It seems that library and archive digitization projects are fertile ground to perfect PM strategies and approaches, and I wish that class had possessed a practicum aspect, where we could have mapped out our PM process in relation to a specific digitization project.
But I digress.
First off, digitizing video tapes is absolutely necessary in their long-term preservation due to "degralescence": both the native playback equipment is becoming scarce, and binder hydrolysis, aka sticky shed syndrome (SSS), basically affects all video tapes.
The planning process begins with identifying potential vendors (through discussion with colleagues and friends, as well as recommendations from professional associations), sorting out copyright clearance, determining funding (it may be necessary to apply for grants), and developing a request for proposal (RFP). The RFP should be complete in identifying the materials that need to be digitized (types of formats in the collection, the time length, inventories), as well as stating the standards for the deliverables (specify the format of received digital files, naming conventions, timeline, etc.). Once you receive the deliverables from the vendor, there is still much work to be done, from conducting quality control and quality analysis, to ingestion, receiving original tapes back, and cataloging.
A representative from a local vendor, Bay Area Video Coalition, was on hand to discuss what happens on their end in the digitization process, which was probably the most technical aspect of the session, but also very informative. BAVC's Audiovisual Artifact Atlas was also mentioned, which is a "community-based, online resource used in the identification and diagnosis of artifacts and errors in analog to digital practice and archival work." It's a sensory throwback to even visit the site and watch the jumping and fuzzy VHS images. I can't imagine the inner sensory life of professional VHS digitizers.
The presenters also referenced a lot of good resources and guides:
• Jonah Volk's presentation, To Outsource or Not to Outsource (pdf)
• Digitizing Video for the Longterm (pdf), which came out of the Video at Risk program
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| Indeed, one of the presenters and his slide, a detailed schematic of the equipment used for a proper digitization set-up. |
Using Films: Reviving 16mm in the 21st Century Classroom
Presenters: Elena Rossi-Snook, New York Public Library, Pratt Institute/ Association of Moving Image Archivists; Roger Brown, University of California, Los Angeles; Josephine McRobbie, North Carolina State University and Jacob Barreras, University of Colorado.
This was more of a panel discussion than a training or presentation, and it was the perfect way to cap off the workshop as it blended pedagogy, ethics, medium, and message into a moving call to arms. The panelist had one message I heard loud and clear: bringing back the appreciation of superseded formats starts here, with you and your students in your institution. The panelists shared stories of moving students through interacting with Kodak Pageant projectors and 16 mm film that were surprising. The stories demonstrated the millennial generation's ability to go retrograde, to have a new world opened to analog media that redresses the fake promises of technology by which millennials so often feel bamboozled.
The panelists highlighted film projection as a performance, the in-sync choreography of projectionist and projector, and the mesmerizing metronome of the projector's click, click, click, click during a "performance" or viewing. One panelist mentioned the study of neurocinematics, which is a new(ish) field that studies the effects of films on the brain activity of its viewers. Apparently, the shutter gap in analog projectors gives the brain a half second to process the information it has received, which can simulate a near dream state in the viewer, and produce a very relaxing effect. That is in contrast to the digital projectors and digital format of film of the now, which often leaves viewers feeling exhausted no matter what type of movie they have watched. The panelists highly recommended the Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Flick by Annie Baker.
This panel brought up the philosophic grounding of preservation, that preservation equals access, which can sometimes be at adds with the standard, conservative actions archivists and librarians take to protect collections. Some content is only available in the format of 16 mm film, and efforts to watch it and catalog it make saving it more essential. It is not simply a question of digitizing everything, it is a question of even knowing what we have before digitize anything. If we don't watch it now, by projector, it will be regarded with such obsolescence within 2 or 3 generations there will not even be a way to watch it, let alone the desire to watch it.
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| The venue was the Ninth Street Independent Film Center. In the last session, participants were treated to watching a film on 16 mm, projected from the Kodak Pageant projector pictured above. |
Theory Meets Real Life
In a funny dovetail of events, a couple days after the workshop, my mom started asking me about an 8 mm projector she thought my dad still had. I asked her why, why did she want this projector. Turns out she had been storing a box of home 8 mm films in her closet, and I got excited to put some of what I had learned into practice. First, I inspected the film and their storage cans, ascertaining that the tins were still in good condition, but that the film prints themselves were deteriorating a bit because the smell of vinegar was present. Otherwise there is no dust or mold on the film, so that is great. We now have a preservation plan for the film: package them in double thick freezer bags and store horizontally in our home freezer, as described in the The Film Preservation Guide put out by the NFPF. Next, we have to acquire an 8 mm projector as soon as possible (turns out my dad is not in possession of a projector), because as mentioned over and over in the workshop, now is the time to obtain the native playback equipment for these analog formats. In the next 5-15 years they will become so rare that what is available will be very expensive. I am excited to experience the visceral pleasure described in the 16 mm viewing panel, and I consider the act to be one of deliberate performance: sure, my mom and I will probably digitize the films eventually, but I look forward to experiencing them in their native format, and experiencing that hypnotizing click, click, click, click of the projector.
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